Preparations for a Royal Wedding bring back memories

“We all possess memories, we all have our own unique life history. recalling the past is a means of owning it and hence preserving ourselves. It is a here and now process which holds the teller and the told in relationship with each other.”

Faith Gibson (1998)

Many people with dementia find themselves routinely having things done ‘for’ them or ‘to’ them. When a person shares something about their past and another person shows interest or enjoyment, it is a wonderful opportunity for that person to feel that they re the one who is giving something to another human being, rather than always being the one who is receiving or listening. Talking about the past can also bring up happy memories and good feelings, and this can be wonderful in itself, but particularly if a person is finding life difficult.

This week we have been preparing for a Royal Wedding party organised for the ‘big day’ – today the residents mixed up a fruit cake with Dan, our Chef, and they are planning to create a very ambitious two-tiered master-piece. They will be putting on the marzipan and the icing early next week. Mixing the cake brought back lovely memories for Barbara who can remember making three fruit cakes per week for her family when they were young.